You might want to check your spark plugs then to. If they have NGK there junk.

 

i have ac delco plugs, there is nothing china in my car.

 

Your ahead of the game then... What rims are those on your car? afs?

 

Eagle = China

Lots of guys are avoiding the stuff due to that, but $$ is $$ and I can't justify mega dollars more for a crank that is comparible. So I try to get a compromise. WHen I compared all the rods at Summit - see lunati rods post - the eagle rods were outstanding in appearance, actually took me back a little. They were as nice as the 1200+ dollar billet stuff. Granted appearance is not everything, but handed the US cast stuff and the CHINA stuff, and not knowing what is what - you would have picked the china stuff as the better quality piece.

Not trying to cause a debate about where people should or shouldn't buy their stuff - or what is better or not.

I see the whole china vs US stuff the same as the "tree huggers" - if your going to suggest other boycot, not use, or suggest the use of something is wrong - you better not straddle the fence on ANYTHING associated with it. Such as your form of transportation better be your two feet, bare soles, and no exceptions. Best not live in a house that contains ANY wood; eat or drink anything that disturbs, is produced, or effects the enviroment. Otherwise your just a ranting hypocrit. Same applies here, best not own anything produced outside the US.

Ok I have digressed -

Tehre are logs of choices out there for good components - the technology used to produce the stuff nowdays is far superior to anything in the past.

A note on the "big" CI small blocks people are talking about. You must realize several things when planning to build one of these, which is why I stayed with a 434 when redoing my motor this year.
(1) yes you can get more CI out of a sbc. (2) Once you start stepping up really big combos you better have a raised deck block, anything over 4" stroke is NOT going to fit a standard block. And be prepared to say hello to MAJOR complications fitting headers, accessories, intake to hood clearance - just to name few things; (3) you are going to have a "throw away" block if something should happen to the motor, (4) the heads are going to be a bottle neck, unless you go to -15 or -11 heads - again say hello to major problems associated with just about everything touching them, (5) plans for a solid rear best be in the plans.

* All the above is assuming an aftermarket block - if you start making BIG power in a stock block or boring the daylights out of it, forget any type of longevity out of the setup, oil use, cracks and problems will soon follow.

Just my .02

 

I checked it out, are the Scat cranks in the packages forged? $800 seems good but I don't think that includes forged stuff...

 

I currently have an eagle 4340 forged crankshaft in my 355 that turns out 600+ hp at 7500. This engine also has 6 inch forged h beam connecting rods from eagle. The rods are very nice to look at and I know of a few budget sprint car guys that run them in their 360's. The crank on the other hand appears to be of good quality but the finish is nothing compared to the Callies that I have. Even the lowest line of Callies is far superior to the eagle in my opinion. That said I have seen the eagle cranks hold up very well so I do not have any problems with running them in a street car. On the big inch issue I can tell you from experience that they are very pricey to build, but very nice to have. I would run the eagle forged stuff in an engine like you described in you original post without any doubts about reliability.

 

i built my 396 with Eagle stuff, 3.875 crank and 6" rods..

bought the whole kit w/ pistons direct from them...

they told me, the raw forgings are made in china, the machine work is done in the US

my engine builder told me, it was one of the finer cranks, he had to balance in his shop :-)

 

i know the rods are- all of the scat rods they sell are 4340 - h beam and i beam (i believe eagles i beams are 5140). not sure about the cranks listed in their kits though. i just called them and told them what all i wanted- and they gave me a price.

 

Jesse, I think I understand where you are coming from but I think there are a few things you may not be aware of. A 454 small block does not require a tall deck block. World makes one that will fit a 4 inch stroke with a 4.25 bore. This block is a stock deck height and does not require any special headers and is no taller than a standard 350 small block. Here is a quote from World Products.

"A 4.250" bore and 4.000" stroke combine to deliver the massive 454 cubic inch displacement, with a compression ratio of 10:1 used to deliver huge power on pump gasoline."

If you go to an engine like the 472 small block that engine would require a tall deck block and that is where you would get into an issue with clearance and special stuff like raised cam belt drives and header issues and so on.

 

Although C4CBF is going to have his motor built, let me say this. And there's nothing wrong with farming this out or buying a crate engine if you're not comfortable building your own. But... even after decades of doing this stuff, there's still nothing that gives me the satisfaction of hearing a new build roar to life the first time. It doesn't matter if it's one more stock overhaul or a highly modded package, it's all good.

 

I agree that doing something yourself is really satisfying. I'm really thinking about going with a 383. But the other side of me questions if I really need that kind of power.

Then I would need heads and intake work done.

If you put the stock TPI on top of a 383, how much would it drop the powerband by? I'm thinking that with more cubic inches, it would drop the powerband lower than the 3200 RPM of peak torque on a current TPI 350.

I was thinking that a Eagle rotating assembly would run me roughly $1200 or so. Edelbrock heads would be roughly $1200 and the Edelbrock intake/larger runners would be about $700. Of course, I would do as much as I could myself but the machining work would have to be done by a shop.

What is the average cost for block work on a 383?

And then I'd have to get gears because I don't think 2.59's with a D36 will do a 383 justice.

 

Sorry if I was not clear in my thoughts when speaking of the tall deck blocks. I was reffering to larger than 454CI motors, see note in my post where I put "over 4" stroke", I know a 4" stroke motor will work, that is what I have now.

What I does apply with a 454 is my comment about a "throw away" block. That is a risky thing to do with a 2500 dollar block you just purchased in my opinion. If something like what happened to me last season happened it would greatly increase the cost of the rebuild. I still had options as to what to do, since I still had quite a bit of meat to play with in there. If it would have been already bored to 4.25, it would have been toast. Sleeving it would have become VERY risky since the side walls would have been very thinto fit the sleeve.

I think we are all on the same page now.

 

A 383 would pull those gears alot better than your 350 will. A 383 has a longer stroke, thus more leverage to lug a tall gear ratio. Now, of course, camshaft selection will alter that but with two engines- one a 350 and the other a 383- the 383 would be happier in front of that 2:59 gear.

I have a 400+ HP daily driver 71' Chevy Nova that runs stock reconditioned rods w/APR bolts, and a Scat cast steel crank (355cid), forged TRW flattop 4-relief pistons, that I assembled about 8 years ago. It runs great and has been to the strip numerous times running 12.7's at 111 very traction limited. With a previous solid lifter cam, I have shifted at 7200 on MANY occasions. No problems, no failures. Dont overlook a detailed quality build with simple parts just because it doesnt cost a truckload of money.

We recently built a 383 for my friends 65 Chevelle using the Eagle stuff. It appears VERY nice- like mentioned above appearance obviously isnt everything- but damn that stuff looks like its quality. He bought a rotating balanced (internally) assembly for $1400 with H beams and SRP forged pistons (compression of his choice) at Daytona during the Turkey Rod Run. His car is in paint purgatory so I dont have much to offer about reliability or times.

 

Big inch motors aside, I had Eagle rods in my last 406. I would never argue they are the best, but for the money, it is a good product. At 550 HP, definitely go with the forged products, but I think Eagle's forged products will handle 550 all day long.

 

I know I can't wait, give you chill bumps on start up... anyone got $3K I can have?